Digital Social Hour
The Anhedonia Epidemic: Are You Secretly Suffering? | Dr. Judith Joseph DSH #1037
Tue, 31 Dec 2024
Are you going through life feeling numb and disconnected, even while appearing successful on the outside? You might be experiencing anhedonia - a hidden epidemic that's silently affecting millions. 🧠 Dr. Judith Joseph, renowned psychiatrist and author, reveals the shocking truth about high-functioning depression and why feeling "meh" could be a warning sign of something more serious. Discover how our modern digital lifestyle is creating a perfect storm for mental health challenges and learn practical strategies to reconnect with joy. In this eye-opening conversation, we explore: • Why successful people often mask their depression • The surprising link between screen time and emotional numbness • How cultural differences impact mental health treatment • The powerful "5 V's" system for emotional wellness • Why your relationships matter more than diet for longevity Dr. Joseph shares groundbreaking insights from her research across 30 countries, offering hope and practical solutions for anyone struggling with emotional disconnection in our digital age. Whether you're dealing with burnout, feeling stuck, or just trying to understand modern mental health challenges, this conversation is a must-watch. Join the Digital Social Hour for an authentic, unfiltered discussion about the mental health crisis hiding in plain sight. Your journey to understanding and healing starts here. 🌟 #selfimprovement #transformingmentalhealth #mindfulnessfacts #anhedonia #wellnessstrategies CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Intro 00:54 - Discovering High Functioning Depression 02:58 - Understanding Anhedonia 05:47 - Phone Withdrawal Symptoms 08:29 - Attention Span Comparison 12:45 - Understanding Trauma 14:37 - Healing from Trauma 15:39 - Exploring Energy Healing 19:50 - Global Mental Health Perspectives 23:01 - Autism and ADHD Trends 26:30 - Community Importance in Mental Health 28:19 - Understanding Scarcity Trauma 30:40 - Impact of Cyberbullying 32:54 - Finding Dr. Judith 33:58 - Dr. Nicole’s Book Availability APPLY TO BE ON THE PODCAST: https://www.digitalsocialhour.com/application BUSINESS INQUIRIES/SPONSORS: [email protected] GUEST: Dr. Judith Joseph https://www.instagram.com/drjudithjoseph LISTEN ON: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/digital-social-hour/id1676846015 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Jn7LXarRlI8Hc0GtTn759 Sean Kelly Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seanmikekelly/
Chapter 1: What is high functioning depression?
Yes. When people think of depression, they think of someone in bed, like crying, like not doing things. I've seen in my practice, the opposite walk around feeling numb, which is something called anhedonia. So these people who are high functioning, but have all these other symptoms, they don't get the help they need. And then eventually something's going to give.
All right, guys, here today on the Digital Social Hour with Dr. Judith Joseph, author of The High Functioning. Thanks for coming on today.
Chapter 2: What is anhedonia and why is it important?
No, the, just high functioning.
Chapter 3: What are the symptoms of phone withdrawal?
Oh, just high functioning?
Yeah.
So no, the, okay. Take two. All right, guys, Digital Social Hour here today with Dr. Judith Joseph, author of High Functioning. Thanks for coming on today.
Thanks for having me.
Chapter 4: How does screen time affect mental health?
Yeah, I didn't know a lot of these terms before. So we got high functioning depression, high functioning anxiety. How did you stumble across this?
So I have a research lab in Midtown Manhattan. And every time I do an assessment, I have to pull out this big book called the DSM-5, which is basically the Bible for psychiatry. And I have to go through it and check boxes. And at the end of every condition, there is a question. Does it impact your functioning? If it's a no, then you move on. You don't have it.
Chapter 5: What is the 5 V's system for emotional wellness?
Well, I thought there was something about that. Like, why are we seeing people who have all these symptoms, but it doesn't impact their functioning, so we don't do anything about it? And I thought that system was broken because as physicians, as healers, we should try to prevent disease, not wait until things are broken and then fix it.
So I started looking at people who have these symptoms of certain conditions, but don't check that box and are still just pushing through, getting through, Eventually, they break down or eventually they develop a substance use issue or some other type of coping that's unhealthy or their body gives. So I felt like I had to study this to prevent it and like create a content on it.
And it just resonated with so many people, went viral. And here I am today.
Wow. Because when you hear depression and you hear high functioning, they're like opposites. Correct. You've been able to see in people that they could pull off both.
Yes, when people think of depression, they think of someone in bed crying, not doing things. But I've seen in my practice the opposite. I see people who walk around feeling numb, which is something called anhedonia, where things that used to light them up and give them pleasure, it doesn't do it for them anymore.
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Chapter 6: How can trauma impact memory?
People who have poor concentration, feeling guilty, feeling not good enough, feeling like they don't want to burden others by sharing how they're feeling, don't want to let people down, feeling as if... they are burnt out. So they have these symptoms of depression, but they can't give up because they have a small kid at home.
They're entrepreneurs like you and I. They have people depending on them. They have partners, friends that depend on them. They're the rock of the family. So these people who are high functioning but have all these other symptoms, they don't get the help they need because the doctor will be like, well, your functioning is great. Come back next year. And then eventually something's going to give.
Chapter 7: What strategies can help reconnect with joy?
So you mentioned anhedonia earlier, 99% of people watching this probably haven't heard of that. So what exactly is that and what causes it?
It's so interesting because in medical literature, if you ask any nurse, any like, you know, doctor, they'll know what it is, but there's a disconnect between the research, the medicine and the people, right? So you have people who are just like scrolling on their phone every day, drinking, doing things, just going through the motions and feeling blah, feeling meh, feeling empty.
That is anhedonia. It's an old term that was first discovered in France in the 1800s by a doctor in France. But it's in the medical literature. It's like all over psychiatry literature. But people don't know about it because if you go into your doctor and you're not crying, if you don't have something glaring, if you're just like... They're going to be like, oh, you're fine.
No one's worried about you. Get out the door. But it is an insidious, sneaky symptom that could lead to other things. And adonia is correlated with depression. It's correlated with substance abuse. It's correlated with schizophrenia, dementia. So it's something that we really need to pay attention to because- 30 years ago, 40 years ago, our brains didn't have so much exposure to social media.
We didn't have so much exposure to tech. We didn't have so much exposure to bad news in the world. So we're all kind of just numb. We're just going through it. We're not processing it. And I think that anhedonia is going to be an epidemic across continents, not just the US.
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Chapter 8: Why are relationships more important than diet for longevity?
Sounds like it's almost a gateway into bad things.
It is because when people feel numb, like, okay, so we're in Vegas right now and this is Sin City, right? There's just an overwhelming amount of dopamine. It's like, you know, you want this? Get it. You want that? You can get it at 5 a.m., you know? So when your brain gets all of this pleasure, all these hits. eventually you're going to get depleted. You're going to go numb.
So we're seeing this with children, children who are like toddlers in front of these screens who are just getting hit after hit of the video that they love, the song that they love, and they're just like staring at it like this, right? They're becoming numb. That is anhedonia. So I do think it's going to be this word that people will start to use regularly.
I'm trying to make that happen because I think people are experiencing it, but they just don't have a word for it. And when you give people a word for what they're experiencing, it calms them down. It's called affect labeling. So if you imagine walking into a dark room and the lights are out, something falls, you're going to start swinging because you don't know what it is. It could be a person.
It could be something dangerous. You turn the light on, you see it's a book that fell. You're like, oh, that's fine. So knowing what you're dealing with, affect labeling is in itself therapeutic. It decreases the amount of stress and allows you to think clearly so you can make a plan.
Right. It's the unknown that's scary. Yes. But people are scared of ghosts. Uncertainty. Yeah. They don't know what's going on. Have you seen this dopamine fasting stuff?
Yes, I have. The dopamine detox.
Yeah. Some people are raw dogging flights, they call it. Right. They don't look at their phone the whole flight. Yes. Yes. I don't know if I could do that.
I would not recommend that. So the way that these apps are developed, these phones are developed, you know this, like they have figured it out. It's a gaming. It's like gambling. It's because you don't know what you're going to get. Your brain just gets addicted to that type of algorithm.
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